The Bondurant brothers—Forrest (Tom
Hardy), Howard (Jason Clarke), and Jack (Shia LaBeouf)—are getting along as
best they can in depression-era Virginia. They run a little diner and gas
station in Franklin, but they have a more lucrative source of income that
involves running moonshine. They don’t have to worry about the law—not only is
the local constabulary in the know, but they’re also customers.

Synopsis:

Legend has it that the Bondurants are
invincible, and sometimes the boys believe that story themselves. Forrest is
short on words, but what he does say carries a punch. Jack is still young, but
he’s eager to learn and he hates the way that they often blow him off. He plots
and schemes with his best friend, a crippled young man named Cricket who’s a
mechanical genius, experimenting with making his own brand of white lightning.
When he first spies Bertha Minnix (Mia Wasikowska), he is smitten with the
young girl. Unfortunately for him, she’s the daughter of a very protective
minister, and when Jack shows up unexpectedly at one of their services, he’s
not prepared to have his feet washed by Bertha, and bolts from the premises as
though a fire was lit under him.

Bad news arrives in Franklin in the form
of a new special agent, Charlie Brakes (Guy Pearce), who’s determined to do
things his way, and to have everybody in the county knuckle under to his rule.
He is a nasty piece of work, and right away he and the Bondurants butt heads.

A young woman named Maggie (Jessica
Chastain) shows up one day looking for work, and Forrest hires her when she
tells him she’s tired of life in the big city, she’s looking for something
easier.

One day Jack witnesses a remarkable
sight. He spies a man with a Tommy gun shoot up a man in cold blood. He knows
who the killer is—the infamous Floyd Banner (Gary Oldman). He makes eye contact
with Banner and the killer winks at him before he drives away. Later, when due
to circumstances their paths cross again, that first meeting will stand Jack in
good stead.

When the rest of Franklin gives in to
Brakes and his bullying tactics, the Bondurants refuse to cave and find
themselves standing alone. Jack is determined to pull his weight, so that he
can be worthy of courting Bertha, even if he does run when he sees her preacher
father heading in his direction. He gets his chance to shine when Forrest
unexpectedly ends up in the hospital, showing that he is true Bondurant
material. The brothers are doing well for themselves, but how long can that affluence
last when Brakes is bound and determined that they will knuckle under to his
authority?

Commentary:

Based on a true story, this is a tale of
three brothers and their struggle to survive during hard times. The tagline for
this film is: When the law became corrupt, outlaws became heroes. I read a
criticism of the film, before I saw it, and one of the comments involved Tom
Hardy’s accent, claiming it was thick, and hard to understand, and not well
done, but I didn’t find that to be the case at all. I had no problem
understanding him, and I thought his portrayal of Forrest Bondurant was well
done. In fact, my daughter, who watched the movie with me, said she thought he
could have used a little more of an accent, not less. I recently saw Tom in
Tinker Tailor, Soldier, Spy, and that character and this were totally worlds
apart. He has a rather chameleon-like quality, similar to another actor in
TTSS, who also plays in Lawless, veteran actor Gary Oldman. Of Mr. Oldman’s
performance, all I can say is I wish he’d had more scenes; he lights up the
screen every time he’s on it. I liked Jason Clarke as the often volatile
Howard. I used to watch him in Brotherhood, and before that I saw him in the
film Rabbit Proof Fence. You wouldn’t know he’s Australian; he does accents
very well indeed. Shie LaBoeuf is great as the young, up and coming Jack
Bondurant. I loved his scenes with his friend Cricket, as well as his wooing of
the young religious girl, played by Mia Wasikowska, whom I saw in Jane Eyre and
Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland.

I enjoyed the plot and the writing, and
there are some rather stunning visuals in this film. I grew to like and root
for the Bondurants, and I prayed that they would not come to a bad end. If you
want to know whether they do or not, you’ll have to see the film. Lawless is a
violent film, so I wouldn’t recommend it for young children, but teenagers and
up should be fine.I rate this film 4
stars.

2 comments:

Tom Hardy is the man in this flick but the one who really runs away with it all is Guy Pearce who has never ever been as vicious as he is here. Everybody else here is great too, but he’s the one who steals the show, in my opinion. Nice review Julie.